Pipe connection and valve.



J. ALLAN. PIPE CONNECTION AND VALVE. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 13. 1913.

1,169,105. Patented Jan.25,1916.

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EAT/IE3 ALLAN, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA; ASSIGNOR TOBAKER ICE MACHINE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEBRASKA.

To all whom it may] concern:

Be it known'that 1, James ALLAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Omaha, in thecounty of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe Connections and Valves, of which the following is a specification. Y

My invention relates to pipe connections and valves, and it the object thereof'to provide a combined pipe connection and airvalve whereln thevalve will be opened as the parts are connected and will close automatically when the parts are, disconnected.

lhe invention is especially adapted for use in connection with ice-making apparatus, as

sectional view of the valve and pipe connection, and Fig. 4: is a similar view showing the valve closed.

In the ordinary commercial methods of artificially producing ice the water to be frozen splaced in cans of the deslred size and shape andsaid cans are suspended in, p the refrigerating medium which is usually, brine, cooled by the expansion of ammonia or the like. The brine is usually contained in large tanks such that a number of the ice-.

cans may be suspended therein simultaneously. In Figs. 1 and 2 are shown several ice-cans 1, such as above referred to, in a typical arrangement. The water to be frozen in the cans except when ithas been boiled or distilled, contains in solution a consid erable amount of air, of which. the larger part is expelled during the freezing operation and collects in the form of bubbles on 45' the surface of the layer of ice adjoining the u11frozen"fiuid contents of the receptacle. If the airbubbles are not removed from the freezing surface as formed they will render the completed ice-cake porous or spongy, and snowy in appearance instead of clear and transparent, so that both the utilityand salability of the ice is impaired. A common expedient for the removal of theair bubbles from the freezing surface is to force air at a moderate pressure into the lower part of specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 25, info.

Application filed October 13, 1913. Serial No. 794,939.

the ice-cans, so that the escaping bubbles from the air-supply pipe will pass'up over the ice-forming-surface in a current that constantly brushes off and carries to the surface of thewater the air-bubbles that form on the freezing surface. My device facilitates the control and operation of apparatus for carrying out the described operation.

In the structure shown, a header pipe 2, to which air is suppliedunder amoderate pressure from any suitable source, is disposed slightly above and'between tworows of the ice-cans 1. At intervals along the header-pipe 2 corresponding to the spacing of pairs of the ice-cans 1,are upwardlyextending nipples 3 into which are screwed the valve-bodies Each'valve body has in the lower part thereof a recess in which is dis posed a ball5, the same being retained in the recess by means ofa small rod 6 extending transverselythrough the lower part of the valve-body. At the up'perend of the ballrecess is a seat? with which the ball 5 may engage to close the opening through the seat. In the upper part of the valve body is a slightly tapering or conical socket 8. A T- shaped connection 9 is provided, having a tapering stem-portion 10 adapted, to fit into a the socket 8. At the lower end of the stemportion 10 is a lug llfadapted to extend through the opening in the seat 7 so as to displace the ball 5'downwardly from theseat when the parts are placed together as shown in Fig. 3. From the connection 9 pipes 12 extend laterally and then downwardly so as to terminate near the bottoms of the adjacent ice-cans, as shown in Fig. 1.

l Vhen the described parts are assembled, as shown,.air from the header-pipe 2 passes through the valve into the pipes 12 and is discharged thereby near the bottoms of the cans 1, "whence passing upwardly it brushes from the freezing surface the bubbles that collect thereon, as before described. After thefreezing operation has continued until but a small body of water remains unfrozen atthe central part of the can, thepipes 12 must be withdrawn from the cans before. the formation of the ice-cake is completed, The withdrawal is effected by merely lifting the pipes and T-connection 9 upwardly so that the stem 10 is withdrawn from the socket in the valve-body. Tlhe air-pressure from the header-pipe then forces the ball 5 up against the seat 7 so that further escape of air from the header-pipe is prevented. Similarly, at the commencement of the freezing operation, after the cans have been placed in position and filled with water, the air-pipes are inserted: in the cans, the stem 10 being pushed down into the socket therefor in the valve-body, and the lug 11 serving to open the valve by displacing the ball 5 from the seat, so that without further attention from theoperator the supply of air to the lower parts of the cans is begun. It should be noted that the taper of the stem 10 andthe socket therefor is such that these parts tend through friction to remain in engagement with each other, butin addition to the frictional engagement the weight of the pipes 12 tends to hold the stem in the socket until it is removed therefrom by the'application of a force greater than that of the air pressure from the header.

Now, having described my invention, what I I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In a device, of the character stated, a

supply pipe, a chambered body having downwardly extending feeding pipes in suitable connection therewith, a coupling member connected with the supply pipe having a chamber therein provided with a valve seat, and having a tapered conical bore communicating with the chamber, a valve freely movablein the chamber, and a tapered conical plug connected with the body having a suitable passage andfreely slidable in the boreof the coupling, said plug in one position being adapted to engage and unseat the valve and in'another position to release it,

whereby the said valve is forced against said seat by the fluid pressure.

- 2. In a device of the character stated, comprising in combination, asupply pipe, a chambered body having downwardly extending feeding pipes in suitable connection therewith, a coupling member connected with the supply pipe having a tapering bore terminating in a relatively small opening and a chamber communicating with the bore and having a valve seat around said opening, a ball valve freely movable in the chamber and adapted to be forced against the seat by the fluid pressure, and a tapering plug extending from said chambered body having a bore adapted to be seated in the tapering bore of the coupling to form a ground joint therewith, with the end of the plug passing through the opening into the chamber and I in engagement with the valve to hold the same from the seat.

3. In a device of the character stated, comprising in combination, a supply pipe, a chambered body having downwardly extending feeding pipes in suitable connection therewith, a coupling memberconnected with the supply pipe having a tapering bore 4. In ice making apparatus, the combina tion with a plurality of freezing-vessels and a fluid supply pipe extending adjacent to said vessels, of a plurality of coupling members connected with the air pipe adjacent to the freezing-vessels, and formed to pro vide chambersleading into and out of the fluid supply pipe, each coupling member having a valve seat disposed in the chamber thereof, a valve in the chamber of each coupling member which is forced normally against the seat thereof by thefiuid pressure in the fluid supply pipe, pipes dipping into the freezing-vessels, and a device connecting said pipes to the respective coupling members and releasing the respective valves,

when connected to the coupling members to establish communication between the fluid 7 supply pipe and the freezing-vessels and whereby escape of fluid from the fluid supply pipe is prevented when said connecting device is disconnected from the coupling members. 5

5. In a device of the character described,

a supply pipe, a coupling member connected with the supply pipe having a: chamber therein provided with a valve seat, a valve in the chamber held normally in engagement with said seat bythe pressure of the fluid in the supply'pipe, and a chambered device having downwardly extending feeding pipes in suitable connection therewith and having detachable connection with said chambered coupling member and having a part for engagement with said valve to force I the same away from said seat when said device is connected to said member so as to establish communication between the feeding pipes and the supply pipe.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES ALLAN. lVitnesses:

J. O. DETWEILER, D. OGBARNELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents,

' Washingtomil). G. 

